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Alligator - Tegan and Sara (2009)

Aside from the great songs that Tegan and Sara have written over the years (and that killer YTV achievement award) inevitably the topic that ALWAYS comes up whether it’s in a review, an article or an interview -is the fact that they are sisters….and twin sisters at that. It’s usually a very obvious reference or question about the novelty of sisters on the road together blah blah blah, which you’d think might get old after 6 records and 10 years or so but us media types are a lazy and sometimes uninspired bunch. If we want to focus on the sister angle of these two songwriters lets talk about the most important part when it comes to Tegan and Sara Quin “sisters making music together”; their voices. Their voices blend together in a way that is unique because they ARE sisters, and over the years it has given them a vocal sound that stands apart from all the other identical twin sisters from Calgary playing in a band together (and everyone else).

Sick of Myself - Matthew Sweet (1995)

In the early 90’s Seattle was sort of setting the musical climate. While there’s no doubt that grunge was certainly the talk of the town there was also something happening with a lot of other “under the radar” music where one time underground bands like REM, The Pixies and Janes Addiction were finding themselves thrust into the mainstream and called “alternative rock”. At the same time there was a Brit pop explosion happening with bands like Oasis and Blur. The music that Matthew Sweet was making seemed to fit comfortably somewhere between those two worlds and even though he got a lot of really good press he always remained a cult artist, but he did infiltrate the mainstream for a minute in 1995 with the song “Sick of Myself”.

The Cave - Mumford and Sons (2009)

2 years ago Mumford and Sons performed on Balcony TV, a website where bands literally perform a song on a balcony…..that was 2 years ago, and since then they have been seen at the biggest festivals in music like Bonaroo, Glastonbury AND have performed on the Grammy’s with Bob Dylan. Now I’ve said this once before when Mumford and Sons were one of the first Matt Tracks last year, but I just want to say it again before it happens (as a pre-emptive told you so): Mumford and Sons will be the next huge stadium band like Kings of Leon and Coldplay before them. It’s all about the banjo baby.

Somewhere Down The Crazy River – Robbie Robertson (1987)

Robbie Robertson has just released his first solo album in 13 years called “How to Become Clairvoyant” and it is beautiful. It features people like Tom Morello, Eric Clapton and it is absolutely killing me, it’s unbelievably good. I’ve made it no secret that I have been geeking out to The Band for the past 3 or 4 years so obviously I am a fan of Robbie’s writing but I had never really explored his first solo album from 1987 which was the first time he released music after leaving The Band. I just found it on vinyl in a fucking dollar bin which after giving it a few listens realize I might have stumbled upon the bargain of the century. It features Peter Gabriel, U2, Rick Danko from The Band and was produced by Daniel Lanois, the entire collection of songs is great and at the very least I suspect you will recognize “Somewhere Down the Crazy River”.

Set You Free - The Black Keys (2003)

Music goes through interesting cycles where a certain style dominates what’s happening and influeneces every aspect of the industry, and then before it goes away a ton of bands get pushed to the top of the musical heap; there is no real formula for breaking a band, it’s a combination of an attempted formula with the stars aligning. People right now seem to be gravitating to a throwback style of music which has certainly helped The Black Keys. They have been paying their dues and playing music rooted in pure and traditional blues rock and roll for about 10 years so it’s not that they have really changed anything they were doing since the beginning, it’s just that the musical landscape has changed which thankfully means that at this moment in music, a band like The Black Keys can be pushed to the top of that heap.

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